Drop weights, head to wall to get pumped

Michelle Dozois, owner of Breakthru Fitness in Pasadena, says competition is tough, so when she was looking for ways to stay on top of the game, she came up with a workout that utilizes the wall.The wall offers a ball-and-socket setup in which tubes of various strengths, even bars, can be attached at different heights, making for nearly unlimited uses in what is normally dead space.

"Everybody's looking for a toy to bring in. But the problem a lot of times is, where do you put all these things? There's no more room," Dozois said.

"The wall just gives us this nice extra surface that we haven't really explored before in group exercise," she said.

Her group exercise room is the "test kitchen," for the off-the-wall workout that benefits both the club and the clients.

"For me, I think it's important to keep moving, and moving in different ways because it's good for the body not to always do one thing," Dozois said.

Typical exercises become more challenging by changing the angle, like with a front raise for the shoulder, or incorporating a compound movement, like a lunge with a press, or a squat and a row, which not only strengthens muscle, but adds a calorie-burning cardio component as well.

Even long before this system was created, instructors liked students to work at a wall because it's a nonmoving support that creates balance and stability. But now, adding the tubes and the bars allows the students to work out even harder.

"I can actually hang upside down on the wall or put a strap around which will help with some assisted stretching," Dozois said.

The wall workout helps both advanced and novice exercisers.

"I'm a senior citizen, and I sweat, and I'm moving my joints, and I love the people that are here in the setting also," said participant Shirley Bottger.

Breakthru Fitness is offering this workout for $10 a class for viewers interested in the program.